Neues Marschlager in Haltern am See

Ladies and gentlemen, today I will introduce you to a newly discovered marching camp in Haltern am See. It is a camp that has been used for a short time, where the legionaries camp in tents. You can already see it here on the foil on the top left in the beautiful photo. The main camp, marked as a blue rectangle at the bottom left, is known to the Romans in Haltern. With its reconstructed wooden earthen wall and the west gate, it has been a highlight here in Westphalia since 2016. Several trench sections of various temporary camps have long been known in the area of main and field camps. So far, however, these have not given a complete layout of the camp. This changed with aerial photographs from 2011, which showed a new corner of the camp. You can now see the reconstructed layout of the new camp on the bottom left, which is in the same area as the well-known field camp and main camp, both known in the archaeological world for 120 years. Various components make it possible to deconstruct a seemingly play-card-like foundation. On the one hand, the aerial photographs from 2011. In the left, green-marked corner, you can see the term aerial photograph 2011. Then in the continuation to the northeast, i.e. from the inside out to the top right, a plan from the excavation in 1999 shows the continuation of this aerial photograph. Then to the southeast, i.e. to the bottom right, our excavation in the context of the reconstruction of a riding hall followed in 2021. And our colleague Joris Kohlen was able to prove a small piece of the camp trench at magnetometer measurements two years ago, which represents a connection to the south corner. The southeast corner, the eastern corner, marked in red with the term older excavations, has been known for a long time. Excavations, construction site observations, and excavation sections appear again and again. So far, however, they have not given a complete outline. And there is also the problem of the interpretation of the excavation. I'll explain that to you later. The aerial photograph taken by Bausong from the University of Bochum 2011 shows two linear structures in the field, at the top and a little below. I have marked them with red arrows. The upper dark aerial photograph marks the field camp trench, which is really strong and clearly visible. And below, marked with the three red arrows, you can see a track that is more difficult to recognize. This is the new camp corner of the march camp that I present to you today. The magnetometer measurements by Joris Kohlen show a very similar picture. They make it possible to reconstruct the western front of this camp. And you see a very dark track in the lower area. I'll try to mark it here. Exactly, here you can see a dark spot, a clear trace. It shows the filling of the field camp trench, apparently partly filled with modern scrap from the field area. And in the upper part there is a very weak straight line, which I also marked here with two red arrows. This is the camp trench of the new march camp. Thanks to these findings, we were able to determine the exact course of the field camp trench and the new march camp trench during the planned construction of a riding hall, and locate the overlap of these two findings precisely. Prior to the construction measures, the property owner allowed us to conduct a survey, a prospection, in order to take a closer look at this area of overlap. In the trench area you can see very clearly the width, the trench of the field camp, which is three meters wide, and the overlap with the narrower new camp trench. The field camp trench runs from the top left to the bottom right, the new trench from the bottom left to the top right. And it is clear that the field camp, which was previously considered the oldest camp in Haltern, cuts this new camp. This means that with the new march camp we have actually identified the oldest march camp in Haltern. The field camp trench, which you can see here in the cut or in two cuts, really stands out in the finding. It is a V-shaped, recessed mountain trench, which runs towards the bottom and stands out very clearly from the surrounding ground. This pointed shape is also the reason why these trenches are called pointed trenches. The new trench looks completely different. You will see it in a moment on the photo. You can see a hollow-shaped, dark filling here. But the actual tip of the trench is down there, where the north arrow is. Where I marked the tip with the red arrow. The lower half of this field camp trench is sterilely filled. It is basically filled like the ground, so that it is incredibly difficult to recognize. And that is also the reason why this trench was not recognized in earlier excavations. You could only recognize the hollow-shaped upper filling and overlooked the actual pointed trench. Another profile illustrates this problem again. I mark the upper, dark filling here. And in the lower area, here in this area, is the very sterile lower filling of the trench. You might be able to recognize it somewhat. Here we have torn up the outlines of the trench with a needle. The trench itself is significantly smaller than the field camp trench, which is three meters wide. Our new trench is just half as big, with a width of about 1.50 meters, 1.60 meters. And instead of up to 1.60 meters deep, the new trench is only 80 centimeters deep. This means a trench that can be laid relatively quickly by a field troop. The overlap is also shown again at one point in the cut. As before, it is also quite difficult to recognize. The trench outline borders an area of ​​24 hectares. This is relatively small compared to the well-known marsh camps. They have a base area of ​​30 to 34 hectares and thus provide space for an entire field troop of three legions, including auxiliaries and trusses. Our new camp is a bit smaller, but the outline is not unusual. You have to say that the previous camps are usually polygonal. The new camp has a play card shape and we know such outlines from Dorsten Holsterhausen. A journey of the day, lip down, from the excavations from 1999 to 2001, which brought several basic outlines of such play card-shaped marsh camps. How does the new camp date? The trench is completely sterile. We peeled it out and sieved the content. It does not contain a single find. The few finds that we have salvaged from the excavation site come from the filling of the field camp trench. Therefore, they cannot be used to date the new trench. Two coins from a smaller pit belong to the Luctunum asses, which date to the time after Christ's birth. The new camp is older than the field camp. This field camp is usually associated with the field troups of the trusses. In fact, 11 BC the first Roman field troop went into the interior of Germania. The field camp of the trusses is associated with this field troup. Upon their return, the Roman troops set up a permanent camp, namely in Upper Aden. Possibly, the new camp belongs to a field troup that took place a year earlier. In 12 BC, Drusus explored the coastal areas with the fleet as well as the Rhine-like areas of the Germanic tribes of the Sugambra, the Usipeta and the Tengtera. He marched from Nijmegen across the Rhine and from there south along to the area of today's Ruhr area. Possibly, he also passed through Haltern and set up the new camp with his troops. However, there is also the possibility that a field troup that led into the interior of Germania set up a new camp upon the return of the troops. This would mean that the new camp was set up in 11 BC, at the beginning of the field troup and only when the troops returned to the end of the field troup, the field camp was set up. As far as the date is concerned, there is still a lot to discuss. There is a lot to consider and I look forward to questions from the chat. Thank you very much for your attention. In 2021, the ground of Haltern gave a further look into its past. 2,000 years ago, ground was also moved here for a so-called marsh camp. A marsh camp is the camp site of the entire field troup. In this camp, the legionaries camped in leather tents in which up to eight men could find a place. They dug a man-deep ditch around the camp and threw the earth inside into a wall. The wall was additionally occupied with the wooden ditches and additionally raised in this way. The newly discovered trench structure, here yellow, intersects with the already known trench of a marsh camp, here red in the picture. The special thing about the newly discovered marsh camp is that we can document the intersection of this new camp with the already known field camp. The intersection of the two camp trenches clearly shows that the newly discovered camp is the older camp. In total, the new camp was about 24 hectares in size and offered room for about 20,000 men. Before the permanent stationing of the Romans in the main camp of Haltern, we only knew the so-called field camp as a marsh camp. There were various pit remains, which could not be reconstructed to a complete floor plan. With the new camp, we can now definitely define another marsh camp that is older than the main camp. Through this new discovery, the network of the Roman military camps in Westphalia, which were established by Drusus, adoptive son of Emperor Augustus, during the first raids to Germania, from 12 BC.